An already very wet November will get even wetter and windier this week as the tail end of a so-called “bomb cyclone” far out in the Pacific Ocean sweeps over the central Oregon coast Tuesday night and Wednesday.
Up to three inches of rain – and more in the Coast Range – are predicted to fall through Thursday, according to the National Weather Service.
The threat of coastal winds up to 60 miles per hour Tuesday night led to the cancellation of all afternoon and evening activities in the far-flung Lincoln County School District. Several coastal businesses announced early closures to help keep employees safe and Yachats Community Presbyterian Church cancelled its community dinner Tuesday night with the message to “Stay home. Stay safe.”
The Central Lincoln People’s Utility District had crews ready to respond to outages and urged people to check its website on how to report them and for other safety information.
“We’ve been monitoring the weather,” said CLPUD spokesman Eric Chambers. “We’ll have crews ready to respond to outages but we’re encouraging customers to be prepared.”
Meteorologists had feared on Monday that a concurrent “atmospheric river” over the Pacific could bring with it the potential for flooding. But that impact appeared less likely Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service’s forecast discussion.
“We weather continues through the end of the week,” the report said Tuesday. “But the probability for significant hydro impacts has diminished with time as a strong atmospheric river remains south of the area.”
The Alsea River at Tidewater was running at 8.5 feet Tuesday afternoon, nearly double its Saturday height but nowhere near its flood stage of 18 feet.
Forecasters said Tuesday the bomb cyclone would reach its peak force more than 300 miles off the coast “producing storm force winds along with a period of hurricane force winds in the waters beyond 10-20 miles offshore.”
Once the system reaches land, wind gusts along the Oregon coast and Coast Range could reach up to 60 mph – which is strong but typical for a bigger late fall or winter storm.
Brian Fowler, who manages state parks from Newport to Yachats, said his crews were not seeing exceptional beach erosion so far this season, despite the heavy weather and last weekend’s King Tides.
“I find that each year is unique in itself,” said Fowler, who has worked in coastal parks for 18 years. “But so far we’re not seeing anything bad like excessive sand scalping or movement.”
This week’s deluge comes on top of an already wet month, according to weather watchers for YachatsNews.
Jim Adler, who lives three miles up the Yachats River, has recorded almost 13 inches of rain in November as of Tuesday morning – more than his 16-year average for the month and higher than 12 of his 16 previous complete November totals.
“My year-to-date rain total is 94.64 inches, which is already greater than 10 of my 16 year-end totals,” he said.
The gauge at the Yachats wastewater treatment plant has measured 11.12 inches of rain so far in November – including 4.39 inches since late last week. He station’s 10-year average for the full month of November is 10.58 inches.
This week’s forecasts
Tuesday night: Rain and possibly a thunderstorm before 3 a.m. then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 4 a.m. Very windy, with a south southwest wind 23 to 32 mph, with gusts as high as 55 mph. New rainfall amounts between three quarters and one inch possible.
Wednesday: Showers and possibly a thunderstorm before 7 a.m., showers between 7-10 a.m., then showers and possibly a thunderstorm after 10 a.m. Breezy, with a south wind 16 to 18 mph, with gusts as high as 32 mph. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Wednesday night: Showers and possibly a thunderstorm. South southeast wind 6 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 18 mph. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch.
Thursday: Showers. Southeast wind 6-10 mph. New precipitation amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch.
Information from Central Lincoln Peoples Utility District
- To report a power outage or other emergency, call CLPUD at (877) 265-3211.
- For ways to be prepared for outages go here
- For a map of current outages go here
- Central Lincoln’s Facebook page go here
- To see a video showing how CLPUD restores outages go here
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